Cyber Threats & Incidents

Data security and data protection are not synonyms, but two important tasks for companies. Learn how to clearly distinguish between both areas and implement them efficiently.

Hybrid attacks, political tensions, and sabotage demonstrate: Germany is in the midst of a permanent cyber conflict – and SMEs are part of the attack surface. Companies that are not resilient could inadvertently become entangled in geopolitical conflicts.

Data misuse occurs when personal data such as names, contact details, or account information is used against a person's will to commit potentially criminal acts. To protect personal and thus sensitive data from such misuse, there are, among other things, data protection laws and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This form of data misuse can take many different forms in practice and sometimes has serious consequences: from identity theft to corporate bankruptcy.

The General Data Protection Regulation stipulates that individuals affected by data protection violations may have a right to damages. The European Court of Justice recently issued relevant rulings on this.